Bangkok

Next stop – Thailand! When we arrived in Bangkok we were very eager to dig into some amazing Thai food and experience the renowned hustle and bustle of the Thai capital.Not sure how safe this is…Or this actually.Restaurant on wheels – go where the business is!Our hotel – Amber Boutique Silom.We caught the local boat along the river to visit one of the temples.I will never again say anything about the Brisbane River looking dirty!It was obviously high tide when we got off the boat as this lady’s little shop was well and truly flooded.Wat Pho.The giant golden Buddha is so impressive.It’s difficult to show in photos just how huge it is!Young monks at Wat Pho.Delicious grilled squid from a street vendor.The fruit stalls everywhere are great. Pomegranate juice and dragonfruit are my new favourites!
Typical Bangkok scene – busy, dirty, crazy and somehow endearing.The tiniest McDonald’s ever?We went searching far and wide for the best street food in Bangkok and were lucky enough to have an amazing street only 5 minutes walk from our hotel in Silom. We tried almost every place on the street at least once.Our fave street food vendor!Yummy seafood pad thai and chicken panang.
On Saturday we paid a visit to the famous Chatuchak Markets. It was insanely busy and already 40 degrees by about 9:30am so our shopping didn’t last that long. You simply can’t believe how big this market is unless you see it for yourself. It covers over 35 acres!There’s something for everyone at Chatuchak Markets! There’s food……and feather dusters……flowers and knives…
 …and a lovely cafe to escape from the heat!

Hong Kong

Welcome to Hong Kong!The trains look as though they go on forever…Apartments in Hong KongMasses of people crossing the street.
Fruit and vege markets.This lady was just pulling along these boxes in the middle of the road in peak hour traffic…A fancy foyer.A typical main street in central Hong Kong.
We bought Andrew’s niece a little asian dress and the lady was very keen to demonstrate that it wasn’t flammable. Night market.The way the buildings are lit up at night is very impressive.Double deck trams!Hong Kong LOVES malls…Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride.Climbing the stairs to the big Buddha.
Because they wouldn’t want you having too much fun…The selfie master in his fancy suit.A water buffalo just wandering the streets.Giant incense sticks. You can’t see it in this shot but they were as tall as me!The incense haze.Cable cars over the water.More hustle and bustle on Hong Kong streets.One of the many sights on this trip that has made me want to be a vegetarian.Locals at the market.Roses from the flower market.
A guy randomly walking along the street with his macaw.Hong Kong street food near the night market.

Aranjuez

Visiting Andrew’s cousin Beth and her partner Diego in Aranjuez was a huge highlight of our time in Spain (and the trip as a whole!). The hospitality and generosity they showed us was overwhelming.

The Aranjuez Palace just down the road from Beth’s house.Beth’s beautiful treelined street.They live in a fantastic house that used to be a restaurant.On our first night, Beth & Diego did a gig at a local restaurant. It was amazing to see them perform together. Plus the food was fantastic!Mickey! Such a sweet and cheeky pup. If we left our bedroom window open she would jump in and be on the bed in no time!Beth’s amazing turkey…
…and her beautiful cats Ramon and Pearler.Diego put on a nice BBQ the first weekend we were there. We felt like we were getting a real taste of Spain now!
They also took us horse riding at Diego’s family’s stables. Riding through the olive groves as the sunset over Aranjuez was simply amazing and was one of those moments we’ll never forget. I didn’t take my camera on the horse for fear of dropping it or falling off while trying to take pictures but here are some I took before our ride.Beth and her gorgeous horse.Isn’t he beautiful?!Some lovely Spanish countryside.The bull bar in town.Diego’s solution to no carparks being available in town…mount the curb and put on your hazard lights! Then walk across the road for a beer naturally.Mickey…loving it.Sadly our stay had to come to an end but on the final night Beth and Diego had a little housewarming party. Ten minutes before people started arriving Diego told Beth there would be 14 people for a sit down dinner. I would freak! But the hostess with the mostest managed to find enough chairs, make the table look fabulous and together with Diego put on an absolute feast.
What a fantastic way to end our time in Spain. We’re looking forward to seeing Beth back in Australia in December too!

Madrid

We had a quick stop in Madrid where we dropped off our car, wandered some lovely streets and ate lots more delicious food 🙂 Plaza MayorArtists in Plaza MayorParque del RetiroProbably our favourite part of Madrid was Mercado de San Miguel.Such a wide range of delicious food!Can you believe someone went to the effort of arranging cherries like this?! They’d want to be tasty for that price!Next stop is Andrew’s cousin Beth’s house!!

Granada

Wow! Granada was just amazing. We adored this lovely little place in the south of Spain.

Our house in Granada in Albaicín, the old Arabic quarter located on the hill opposite the Alhambra.
The area is known for its cobble stoned streets with white washed houses. The view of Alhambra from our bedroom! Amazing sight to wake up to each day 🙂Alleys and alley cats.Alhambra dogsIt’s a shopper’s paradise in downtown Granada.The strong Moorish influence is seen in many of the amazing shops hidden down tiny little streets.Alhambra from our room at night.And looking in the other direction from our room wasn’t too bad either 🙂There’s so many gorgeous cafes and shops scattered through Granada.A cute little florist in one of the main squares.Bit of a tight squeeze…How cool is this street lamp?!Views towards the mountains framed by the white washed houses.I couldn’t get enough of these picturesque little streets (as I’m sure this blog post shows).Until next time Granada…xo

Ireland

Westport
On the road…Time to refuel 😉Connemara National ParkAndrew taking the less conventional route up the mountainNevertheless, he did make it to the top!Our home for the night in KinvarraLook how tiny the people are in the top left of this photo. This gives some perspective to how high the cliffs are……and how crazy this guy is!
KillarneyThis friendly pup welcomed us to our first stop on the Ring of Kerry.The most gorgeous place we stopped at on the Ring of Kerry.

Wales

Luke & Bev were kind enough to drive us to the ferry for our trip across the Irish Sea and on the way we took the opportunity to explore some more of beautiful Wales!  Let’s just say that Welsh is not a language I’m going to try to learn any time soon… Luke not enjoying having his picture taken 😉 Now that’s what I call a beer garden!

Moel Famau

We headed further north to visit my oldest friend Luke and his lovely girlfriend Bev. They live just near the border of Wales and took us on a wonderful hike. We even found a tiny birds nest!

Charleston to Orlando

The next part of our journey took us down to Charleston to visit Andrew’s school friend Gabs and his girlfriend Melina. Gabs kindly organised the whole 4 day trip, picked us up from the airport and even got us free accommodation. Thanks Gabs!!

A little walk in the woods……and a trip to the beautiful beach. The day we drove from Charleston to Orlando was Andrew’s birthday. We went to a great Japanese restaurant with Gabs & Melina to celebrate. Andrew even scored a free birthday dessert!
The highlight of the trip was a visit to Island of Adventure in Orlando. The Harry Potter section was SO cool. I’m not even a massive fan & I geeked out over it. Thank you to Melina who let me use her camera to take these few photos 🙂

Washington DC

Next destination, Washington DC.A stars and stripes elephant in your front yard…why not?!Obama’s pad…
The Lincoln Memorial. Truly amazing.The CapitolMartin Luther King Jr Memorial. The quotes at this memorial are beautiful but upsetting at the same time as the many things King wished for still aren’t a reality today. A typical Washington DC street.Our host’s dog Hermosa. She would go and fetch her owners shoes on command and was like a big, gentle bear ❤
Our street for the week.Adam’s MorganWe had a wonderful day at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. It is by far the best zoo I’ve ever visited. The environments the animals are kept in are really well designed and maintained. And the animals didn’t look depressed like in most zoos!Watching the world go by…A presidential mural.Air & Space Museum……where the Wright Brother’s plane is kept.Georgetown, a sweet leafy neighbourhood just outside the “serious” part of Washington.